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Topics - rubywishes

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16
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / First quilt started for 2020
« on: December 31, 2019, 09:40:21 AM »
My Jabiru is hanging gloriously in the hallway commanding admiring glances and self satisfied smirks from me at least 6 times a day so now it is time to embark on the first of my year 2020 projects with a firm and steely determination to use all my already purchased fabrics that are languishing in tubs secreted about the sewing room. So with that in mind I have hauled out an embarassingly chunky pile of white, off white and cream pieces....some plain, some patterned, some textured, and I am going to make a "white on white on cream" quilt. Oh yes, it's going to be incredibly neutral, incredibly WTF, and some may even say, incredibly bland LOL. And what's even more bizarre is I am going to use a pattern out of the flourescent, colorfilled, visually chaotic New York Beauties pattern book I bought some time back...you know, the one where I did the "Sewing with Sunglasses" block.....which did end up in the bin and no doubt is now languishing at the recycling tip wondering why it never got to be a "grown up quilt".   Pics to follow once I finish cutting out all my gazillion pieces and start sewing something together!  Happy New Year everyone from here across the sea.  :)

17
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Hmmmmm..... where did that left over piece of batting go?
« on: December 16, 2019, 06:59:31 AM »
 :angry: :angry:FMQ'd to the back of my %@@#&^*@# wall hanging! It's time for a  :toast: :toast: :toast:.

18
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Sentinel Jabaru wall hanging (Dragonfly fabrics)
« on: December 01, 2019, 23:23:10 PM »
I have started my Jabaru wall hanging which I bought for a screaming bargain of $10 AUS (reduced from $45 AUS..including fabrics) some time back at a local quilt show.

I unpacked my little packet of fabrics, worked out which bit of fabric was for which part and then read the instructions with growing trepidation.......I've never used fusible stuff and never done applique....cripes, I still haven't worked out fully how to find all the decorative stitches on my DX7 let alone a suitable applique stitch.

However, 2 days later  I have learnt to use double sided adhesive vliesofix to trace my pattern pieces and fix them to my background and have attempted my first fmq to "make" grass AND I've found my applique stitch on my machine! Grandparent duties call for today so further progress into this mysterious world of weirdness will have to wait but I must say...I am truly chuffed with myself...so far! Just hope it doesn't end up in the bin like the last project!

19
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Happy find.
« on: October 02, 2019, 11:11:09 AM »
I found these two patterns at a local quilt show trade stand.
The Judy Neimeyer pattern was a screaming bargain at $25 AUS...usually at least $50 or more over here. The pattern is discontinued but the corrections were still available on the Quiltworx website so.....wininng!!!  I love the Quiltworx patterns but they are just too expensive for me although I did splurge a while ago and bought 2 which I thoroughly enjoyed doing.

The wall hanging kit was reduced from $45 AUS to $10 and included all the fabric needed to make this gorgeous bird. It will be my first foray into applique so I'll be putting the big girl pants on for this one but am thrilled to have it and can't wait to try.

20
Current Projects / Sewing with sunglasses on!
« on: October 02, 2019, 10:34:40 AM »
So I was wandering about at the local big box Haby store specifically looking for fabric for my Tiger wall hanging pattern( a very sweet gift from Im...thankyou again my sweet) when I spied that all the fat quarters were on sale....10 for $25.00, and at that moment a very, very pretty floral print fat quarter waved at me.
"No" said I....."I can't stop and check your quality...I have to buy tiger stuff today"

So then the fat quarter yelled at me.."Hey, I'm gorgeous and not too bad quality and I would be perfect for your New York Beauty quilt patterns...come on...you know you want to."

Well I didn't want to be rude but neither did I want to appear too needy so I did a quick lap of the blenders and widebacks section before nonchalantly sidling up to the little floral fat quarter and giving it a bit of serious consideration. It sat politely in my hand while I considered its colours, it's "feel", and the possibilities it offered me.

And so, here I am........sunglasses on and merrily constructing what i think I am going to call "My Garden" quilt. LOL, this may be my only ever success at gardening!!!

So the plan is to do rows of New York Beauties, each row a different variation and each row having its own floral feature fabric and associated complementary colours. I was thinking maybe to do rows in each of the 4 seasons themes..hmm maybe, or maybe just stay with summer garden throughout. I'm going to make it up as I go along but have already picked my variation blocks and spent a gazillion hours photocopying all my foundation papers out, cutting all the little blighters out and whacking them in zip lock bags. I do love FPP but the initial organisation for the project is always a huge task.

21
Vintage Machines / Treadle find.....may end up mine!
« on: August 02, 2019, 11:08:56 AM »
At work today, up on a top floor, tucked away in a corner, I stumbled upon an unwanted Singer treadle in a cabinet, its serial number indicating it is a 201 from 1949. It's been converted to motor and the belt is rotten and in pieces and the cabinet has seen much jollier times. I'm not sure of the general condition of the machine as I was reluctant to set it up for a look as it isn't mine to handle. On inquiry later in the day I was able to find out that it had been gifted to the Nursing Home but they had never gotten around to cleaning it up or displaying it. My inquiry prompted reconsideration of the machine and I believe it is now destined for the Memory Support Unit ( once it is made safe, ie needle removed). I have been told that if it proves to be unsuitable for the residents there then I may be able to have it.....to have it! I'm very excited as it would be a nice piece to sit next to my other "old girls". I really don't have the time these days to do anymore restoring but I just couldn't leave this unloved. I do feel a bit conflicted though as it would be nice to see it provide memories and pleasure for the residents but.....but.....

22
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Which do you think for my wall hanging?
« on: July 07, 2019, 11:08:00 AM »
I had thought that I would use different coloured backgrounds for this wall hanging but now am leaning more towards the black. What do you think?

23
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Finally gifted..and my daughter loves it...phew!
« on: July 04, 2019, 12:06:52 PM »
Triangle Jitters quilt finally gifted to my daughter last week. I was so nervous that it wouldn't look any good but I reckon it looks great. Daughter and son-in-law very happy....yay!

24
Current Projects / Can't stop at one!
« on: July 04, 2019, 08:17:29 AM »
So I made one Candy Cat (pattern by Unicornharts) which Im so sweetly gave to me and I was going to make it into a wee wall hanging. And then I thought nah....I'll do a second cat. And now all of a sudden I have three done and another one under the needle! And today at work  all I kept thinking about was all the different color combinations I could use out of my scraps collection to make a veritable herd of cats! And so on my drive home from work I'm thinking hmmmmm a wall hanging of 4 cats...nice but..... how many would I need to make a quilt...... :S This has just got to stop...someone take my pattern away from me please!
And I don't even fancy cats that much! (bit of a dog person)..... but these little guys are soooooo cute :loveit:

25
Current Projects / Candy Cats by Unicornharts
« on: May 21, 2019, 08:55:30 AM »
Well I should have been quilting my daughters' quilt, and then I had to go for a drive to collect my granddaughters' flower girl dress, and then I had to do my grocery shopping and then I also had to strip the bed sheets, clean the bathrooms and vacuum as I have to work the next 3 days......BUT.......I opened my email this morning and found a lovely little surprise waiting for me so all my plans for the day took a 2 hour step to the side while I disappeared into the sewing room with a coffee in hand and kitties on my mind. Thankyou Im, you are a love! :) <3

What a cute little quick fpp pattern. I rather think this block will become a little wall hanging although at present he is looking a bit fierce and devil-like! Unfortunately the rest  of him will have to wait until the weekend for completion. I can imagine this would look good in a number of blocks with kitties of all different colours......woops, another one hits the "to do" list on the white board. :)

26
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Important lesson to remember....
« on: May 17, 2019, 14:17:56 PM »
When you are hand basting a quilt and you decide to use water soluble thread so you don't have to bother snipping away all the threads as you quilt because it will just wash away at the end what you must NOT do is......

Lick the end of your thread to pass it easier through the eye of the needle....der!  Just couldn't understand why my thread tip kept going yucky and fray-ish so I just kept snipping the end off and licking the new end.....and then again....3 times before it dawned on me that I was blooming well dissolving/mooshing the thread before it had a chance to get threaded. Smart I am not! But I did have a good laugh at myself.

27
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / I entered a show!
« on: May 17, 2019, 14:03:07 PM »
A LQS that I have never been to because it's a good 40 minutes drive up the mountain on a skinny, winding, goat track-worthy road that leaves me with a cold pit in my gut if I have to drive it puts on a quilt show every year with the proceeds going to the local CFA (fire blokes). I decided on a whim to enter 3 of my quilts so I filled out the entry forms and dutifully watched all the Youtubes on how to fold your quilts to minimise wrinkles. And rehearsed the folding...daily!

The day of delivery came so I carefully folded my quilts and drove up the mountain....missed my turn off and had to then drive another gazillion miles before I found a safe place to turn the wretched car around to then drive the gazillion miles back to the LQS. I must admit to feeling quite a pang of nervousness leaving my quilts with someone else...would they look after them, would they lose them, would they not bother to hang them in the show, would they laugh at my work, would someone spill acid on them, would a wild mountain dog break into the quilt shop and tear my quilts to pieces or maybe even have a litter of feral puppies on it.....Lord, I was a mess by the the time I had driven home I can tell you!
The day of the show came and off I went to actually find the hall where the show was being held....you see, I had been so consumed with the sheer enormity of entering the show I had completely not bothered to try to process the information about where it was being held....I only had a very vague idea of where it was but filled with seperation anxiety for my quilts, and a print out map from Mr.Google I was steeled and determined to drive forth and arrive there...somewhere...eventually......

How excited was I to arrive and see my quilts up on display with all the others. I was thrilled, absolutely thrilled...it was like being a penguin on your own since birth and then suddenly finding all the other penguins on the other side of the ice berg!  I walked around oohing and ahhing at all the exhibits and bought another Judy Neimeyer pattern (I admit, hand on heart I have a fpp addiction here!) but the best thing of all was listening to other people critiquing my quilts. Positive and negative...both delighted and enthused me. I felt I had come home, that people who knew my craft and love were appreciative of my work, and supportive of my efforts and understanding of my flaws. A wonderful experience...and just what i needed at that time in my life.

And then I couldn't wait for the show to be finished....I hung around home moping until the designated time for collection arrived. I wanted my babies back home, smoothed out, lovingly put back up on the wall and "oh so casually" thrown over my couch. I was validated and content.

28
Current Projects / Triangle Jitters by "Suzy Quilts"
« on: May 17, 2019, 13:33:50 PM »
DD number 2 and family have moved into a new house complete with new furniture : as you do these days when you're young, beautiful, happy and career successful.....(cripes :S did she really spring from my loins????) and I gaily offered to "do" a quilt for the couch in the "good room"......all sparse and white and grey and black and minimalistic.  I wanted to do a crisp, clean geometric pattern with muted colours and came across this pattern fairly quickly.

I'm thinking I'll do channel quilting...vertical, about 5/8" apart. I chose grey and white as the main colours and then added a splash of aqua to give a bit of pop. The Aqua actually matches almost identically to the aqua colour in a painting she has on the wall....she thought I was very clever and arty.....I didn't have the nerve to fess up that it was entirely by accident and fate that I had a bit of "aqua tat" stuffed in my remnants box that very nearly got turfed out the other day and happened to be languishing on the floor by the rubbish bin when I spied it!

29
Patchwork & Quilting ... Welcome to the Darkside / Squaring up large quilt blocks...brilliant!
« on: November 14, 2018, 05:07:29 AM »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txM3UdNqHmM

Have just tried this method to square up the 16" blocks in my current project. Worked an absolute treat, and what's more I was able to re-use the paper for all the blocks. :) Looking at how much a large square ruler costs and comparing it to the couple of dollars I paid for a large roll of freezer paper (from the local big box craft store) I'm grinning so hard I may need to be slapped!!!!!!!

30
Current Projects / Judy Neimeyer table runner
« on: October 25, 2018, 06:29:41 AM »
So totally hooked on FPP I decided after finishing work this afternoon I would treat myself to a drive to the LQS and buy this lovely table runner pattern. My intentions are to make one for my sister, and then one for each of my daughters and I am really looking forward to tackling something just a bit smaller than a quilt this time  :). At first glance this pattern looks a bit more complicated than the Desert Sky I just finished but with enthusiasm high and my big girl pants firmly pulled up Benny Hill style I am forging ahead.
I've bought the fabrics (batiks of course :)) for my spikes, borders and binding and tomorrow after work I will set off in search for my 2 background fabrics. So looking forward to getting into it in the next week or two and it will be doubly exciting as I'll be trying the new DX for my piecing.

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